Rise, Robots, Rise! Lots of Robots Help the Troops in Iraq

[Guest]

From James F. Dunnigan's Strategy Page:

April 21, 2006: The infantry in Iraq, as they have in most wars, have picked up a lot of new skills because of the kind of war they are involved with. IEDs (roadside bombs, or Improvised Explosive Devices), a constant problem, have forced American infantry to adapt in some interesting ways. While infantry patrols, usually in armored hummers, are good at spotting IEDs, they have to wait for an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team to check it out and destroy it. That's time consuming, especially since there is a lot more call for EOD teams. Partly this is because, at least until late last year, the enemy was planting more IEDs. But mainly it's because with more Iraqi police and army patrols out there, more IEDs are being spotted sooner, and these guys call on the EOD teams as well. While some suspected IEDs can be checked out, and taken care of, with a burst of machine-gun fire, if the thing doesn't go off, you need EOD to come do the deed. To get around this delay, the infantry have been improvising. This started out with troops buying toy remote control vehicles, attacking a wireless vidcam to it, and checking out the suspected IEDs themselves. Some troops went further and got toy remote control dump trucks, that could carry an explosive charge (a chunk of C4 plastic explosive) with a wireless detonator. The truck was driven up to the IED, the explosive dumped, and after the truck was safely away, the IED was destroyed.

Noting this, the army got a cheap robot for the convoys and troop patrols to use. The $8,000 MARCBOT (Multi Function Agile Remote-Controlled Robot) received rave reviews from the troops. This one has a movable arm, is sturdier and more mobile than the toys the troops had been using. Hundreds were ordered.

All this takes a big load off the EOD teams, who still get called out for tricky jobs, or for all the convoys and patrols that don't have a robot with them. But most troops prefer to have their own robot along, as these can be used for all manner of dangerous reconnaissance. The troops love their combat droids, often giving them names, and mourning their loss when an IED or enemy fire gets one. But in those situations know that it could have been one of them that got hit. You don't have to write letters of condolence home to the parents of dead robots. If the troops had as many combat robots as they wanted, about ten percent of the "troops" would be robots. That percentage will increase as the robots become more capable.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[shropshire 0]

Great piece of initiative by the lads on the ground... BUT .. they should not of had to... The U.K Army are well versed in IED detection and disposal (from the NI days!) and a device called Wheelbarrow has been in their tool set for years (since 1972)....
Pity your leaders dont talk to their alies enough?

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Guest]

The US has had EOD robots for decades, but the point here is that specialized EOD robots were for the EOD troops. These new bots are for all the troops.

mh

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[miked10270 0]

I love the bit where an $8,000 robot is called "cheap"!

I take it that's $29.99 for the RC truck. $19.99 for the video cam. $99.99 for the wireless TV link & handheld TV. $3.99 for the glue to stick the bits together.

$7,846.04 for the defense contractor that came up wiff the sexy name for it!

Thinking about it, I wanna go work for BILLVON gluing webcams & real guns to model tanks! We can call it CYBERSNIPER (which stands for loads of stuff we haven't made up yet) and it's specially designed as a non-lethal weapon by virtue of the fact it's designed to shoot Iraqi Civilians Terrorist Suspects in the ankles (or knees for those sneaky Toddler-Terrorists).

I want $200k per annum (payable in Euros please), full Medical Insurance, & immunity from prosecution!

I'll even bring my own Araldite.

Mike.

Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable.

Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

[shropshire 0]

Sorry..maybe if I'd seen a picture of the new super toy, then I could have put it into context better.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[quade 4]

Quote

Sorry..maybe if I'd seen a picture of the new super toy, then I could have put it into context better.

Ummmm . . . . Google?

http://www.defenselink.mil/transformation/articles/2005-01/ta012505a.html

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[shropshire 0]

sorry... just lazy I guess wow 8 Grand for a Tonka toy

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[freethefly 6]

I got a robot one christmas, I believe 1965. It's arms moved as it rolled across the floor and its eyes flashed red along with a multitude of yellow and green lights. It had many sharp points and painted with lead based grey and black paints. It ran on 4 D-cell batteries. I saw oppertunity in having such a deadly marvel of technology at my disposal and I quickly inducted my new found joy into my plastic navy, army and air forces. With such a deadly combination at my command I quickly decided that the oppertunity to recapture the bedroom from the pitiful forces of my older brother would never be better. Having a robot was the eqivulant to having an Atom Bomb in 1965 in my bedroom. I deployed my forces in all the strategic locations. On the bedrails, up on the dresser, atop the record player and inline across the floor. Well over 500 men and several hundred ships, tanks and planes at my disposal. And, of course, Tommy the Robot ready to seek and destroy at my command. Just the very view of him, standing before my troops, put the fear of technology into my older brother. His forces could not possibily compete in this new type of warfare. I was invincible. With just a flick of the switch and victory will be mine. I could smell the fear he felt and I felt great for it. Cliff engaged my troops first by launching rubberband propelled missles deep behind the lines into my portion of the room. One missle nearly took out one of my eyes. War is serious stuff. This unprovoked attack cannot be tolerated and I quickly countered with bombing runs with my planes attached to kite strings strung across the room. This provoked him to yank the sheet from under my forces on the bed taking out at least 100 troops. Compeltely against the rules of engagement and cannot be tolerated. In order to preserve the integrity of war and to save countless lifes, I had no choice but to deploy my new found technology, Tommy the Robot. Without hesitation and forethought of its consequences I flicked the switch on Tommy and set the course of modern warfare. Tommy performed like no other warrior. He quickly pulverized the troops of the oppressive old regime that was my older brother. I was a LIBERATOR and a CONQUEROR. Mission complete. Sadly I was quick to learn that new technology does sometime lose out to old technology as my older brother quickly deployed his old technology to my head with his fist and regained the bedroom as his. He also took Tommy the Robot.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[akarunway 1]

Quote

I got a robot one christmas, I believe 1965. It's arms moved as it rolled across the floor and its eyes flashed red along with a multitude of yellow and green lights. It had many sharp points and painted with lead based grey and black paints. It ran on 4 D-cell batteries. I saw oppertunity in having such a deadly marvel of technology at my disposal and I quickly inducted my new found joy into my plastic navy, army and air forces. With such a deadly combination at my command I quickly decided that the oppertunity to recapture the bedroom from the pitiful forces of my older brother would never be better. Having a robot was the eqivulant to having an Atom Bomb in 1965 in my bedroom. I deployed my forces in all the strategic locations. On the bedrails, up on the dresser, atop the record player and inline across the floor. Well over 500 men and several hundred ships, tanks and planes at my disposal. And, of course, Tommy the Robot ready to seek and destroy at my command. Just the very view of him, standing before my troops, put the fear of technology into my older brother. His forces could not possibily compete in this new type of warfare. I was invincible. With just a flick of the switch and victory will be mine. I could smell the fear he felt and I felt great for it. Cliff engaged my troops first by launching rubberband propelled missles deep behind the lines into my portion of the room. One missle nearly took out one of my eyes. War is serious stuff. This unprovoked attack cannot be tolerated and I quickly countered with bombing runs with my planes attached to kite strings strung across the room. This provoked him to yank the sheet from under my forces on the bed taking out at least 100 troops. Compeltely against the rules of engagement and cannot be tolerated. In order to preserve the integrity of war and to save countless lifes, I had no choice but to deploy my new found technology, Tommy the Robot. Without hesitation and forethought of its consequences I flicked the switch on Tommy and set the course of modern warfare. Tommy performed like no other warrior. He quickly pulverized the troops of the oppressive old regime that was my older brother. I was a LIBERATOR and a CONQUEROR. Mission complete. Sadly I was quick to learn that new technology does sometime lose out to old technology as my older brother quickly deployed his old technology to my head with his fist and regained the bedroom as his. He also took Tommy the Robot.

LOL

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[narcimund 0]

Did you really just quote 500 words just so you could add "LOL"?

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[shropshire 0]

447 words.... I think that the word that you're now looking for is Pedantic... or C**t

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[akarunway 1]

Quote

Did you really just quote 500 words just so you could add "LOL"?

Was that not obvious? Did YOU count the number of words?

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[narcimund 0]

Quote

Did YOU count the number of words?

Apparently I was off by approximately 10% (according to shropshire.) That seems to indicate that I didn't count.

I'm pretty good at estimating word count. It comes with the career track.

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[shropshire 0]

(cut and paste into MS_Word... let Bill do the counting)

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Guest]

There is a lot of padding of defense contracts, to be sure.

However, making something "soldier-proof" and meeting mil-std specifications never comes cheap.

mh

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."